Editor’s note: Ever since nerd icon William Gaines (of “Tales from the Crypt” fame) founded Mad magazine nearly 50 years ago, it has inspired the likes of Terry Gilliam with its absurdist humor, eye-catching art, and geeky jokes – after all, it was one of the first publications to parody comic book heroes. Its mascot, Alfred E. Neuman has been a symbol of geekdom for nearly as long.

Todd Leopold recently caught up with one of the most beloved MAD cartoonists, Al Jaffee, and shares more about his experience with CNN Geek Out!

As Mad magazine art director Sam Viviano observed, generations of Mad readers have looked at the magazine’s contributors as “gods on Olympus.” But it’s not just the readers who admire the Mad Men – they also have a healthy respect for one another.

Al Jaffee, the subject of CNN.com’s Monday profile, was asked for his thoughts on some of the other members of the Usual Gang of Idiots. Here’s what he said: FULL POST

Jedi Masters have to build their own lightsabers. The Doctor created his sonic screwdriver from scratch. Even Cylons, Replicants and Robocops were all projects by crafty humans who wanted to make something extra special. So it's not too far fetched to imagine an extensive community of geeky fans who love to use their crafting skills to make a life-size TARDIS, or a giant AT-AT treehouse or their own Godzilla costumes.

When I wrote the book "The Star Wars Craft Book," I already had amassed a large collection of crafts I'd made for fun, including a Jabba the Hutt Body Pillow, an AT-AT planter, a bean art portrait of bounty hunter Bossk and Mos Eisley Cantina patron finger puppets. But I also wanted to feature crafts such as the Millennium Falcon bed, R2-D2 crocheted beanie hat and a Star Wars T-shirt quilt made by talented fans.

The geek craft community grows faster each day. What was once an underground group of geeks who love to crochet Spider-Man masks or make steampunk ray guns has now turned into a bona fide craft movement full of thousands of geek "craftsters" who converge at comic book conventions, craft meet-ups, science fairs and of course, online. All geek craftsters have their own passion that drives them to make a sci-fi homage from scratch. FULL POST

About this Blog

It takes one to know one. When it comes to topics of interest to nerds, geeks, and superfans, we know how true that is. Geek Out! features stories from a nerd's perspective that you can still share with your "normal" friends and family.